Dartmouth 4, Brown 2
Brown 5, Harvard 2
Video highlights and interviews of the Harvard game can be found on the Men's Ice Hockey page on Brown's athletic site. It is currently the second post.
After earning two points up in the North Country last weekend, the Bears came home for one of their bigger homestands of the season- the annual grudge matches against Ivy rivals Dartmouth and Harvard.
While the Dartmouth game went as most games between the two teams do (Dartmouth overcoming a strong Brown effort and winning by a comfortable margin due in significant part to the play of their goaltender), the Bears exploded on offense against Harvard on Saturday night.
I was able to watch some of the Brown-Dartmouth game, but was preoccupied with other things and then the stream was messed up in the third period. But from what I saw, it was a typical Brown-Dartmouth game. Brown played pretty well and had some good opportunities. The Bears outshot the Big Green, 33-25, and flu-stricken Anthony Borelli relieved an ineffective Marco DeFilippo (who was battling a knee injury) after a first period in which he allowed a couple of soft goals.
The first goal was scored when DeFilippo failed to control a rebound (surprise!), and Dartmouth's Tim O'Brien poked home a loose puck. After Matt Lorito answered for the Bears with just over two minutes left in the first period, Matt Lindbald capitalized on a botched power play setup and skated in on DeFilippo untouched. While it's not normal to blame a goalie for a breakaway, I think DeFilippo should have done better: Lindbald's move was not particularly challenging, and he simply slipped a pass through DeFilippo's five-hole and into the back of the net.
Borelli gave up a goal shortly after entering the game, but Brown settled down and attempted to come back. The Bears would never get closer than a two-goal deficit, as Dartmouth converted an empty-netter to expand its lead to 4-1. Brown got one back with under a minute to go, but the game was long over at that point.
On Saturday, the Bears played host to Harvard in what was a surprisingly tame affair. There was some good, hard physical play, per usual, but the normal bite of a Brown-Harvard game was noticeably absent. The teams combined for nine minors, only one of which was converted on (the Bears cashed in during a four-goal second period). There were no real scuffles or extracurriculars.
After a somewhat lackluster first period in which the two teams seemed more inclined to pass the puck around and wait for the ideal shot that never came, play opened up in the second. Tommy O'Regan scored an unstoppable one-timer on a terrific feed from Brian Hart to give the Crimson a 1-0 lead just 2:04 into the period.
But the visitors would not keep the lead for long. Garnet Hathaway would answer just 47 seconds later on a beautiful crease-crossing feed from Lorito. Hathaway would go on to have his best day in a Brown uniform. His line, centered by Lorito and flanked by Ryan Jacobsen, was a thrill to watch. They had great energy and chemistry, and masterfully broke down the Harvard defense to factor on three of Brown's five goals.
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| Assistant Captain Garnet Hathaway had his best game ever in a Brown sweater as the Bears thrashed the rival Crimson in front of a nice crowd at Meehan, 5-2. |
Jacobsen would increase the Brown lead on a one-timer into a net vacated by Crimson goalie Peter Traber (who, to his credit, made a fine diving effort and actually got a piece of it with his stick). Harvard got one back in the dying stages of the second period, but the Bears squashed any hope of a comeback when unheralded Jeff Ryan beat Traber with a snipe on an odd man rush 7:25 into the third period.
It was probably the best performance Brown has had all season (scratch that; it was definitely the Bears' best game). Harvard looked overmatched as soon as the second period started, and Brown outshot them by a 23-8 margin. Though they only mustered six shots in both the first and third periods, the second period outburst was more than enough to clinch two points for the Bears.
Moving forward, Brown has a tough task this weekend when they head to upstate New York to face #18 Cornell and Colgate. The Bears have historically had little success against both opponents, but another two-point weekend would be fantastic with powerhouse Quinnipiac coming to Providence the following weekend. The Bobcats' travel partners Princeton are no slouches either.
Brown is in good shape to get home ice right now. The Bears are currently tied for eighth, but hold the tiebreaker over Clarkson due to their 1-0-1 record against the Golden Knights. They lie just two points out of sixth place, and five points out of a cluster of teams tied for third place. A couple of good weekends, and we could find ourselves fighting for a bye, rather than just home ice.
But, realistically speaking, we are in very good shape to finally host a home playoff series again. If we can build on the eight points we gained in our first 11 league games, we should see some playoff hockey at Meehan.
Of course, when you have to play Colgate, Cornell, Quinnipiac, and Princeton twice, not to mention Yale, RPI and Union once each, the road seems a whole lot more challenging. But this team hasn't quit this season despite daunting circumstances, and it won't go down in the playoff hunt so easily either. Expect a couple of surprise performances down the stretch. Every game is huge from here on out, and that is a fact not lost on Brendan Whittet.
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